xhtml / html - which would employers choose?

Chiz · 15 Dec 2006 at 00:10

So i'm planning on developing a new site and i'm torn between whether or not it's worth making the site in xhtml or html. I suppose i will be interested whether or not future employers would be more impressed with the xhtml, rather than stardard html.

Any info on this subject would be greatly appreciated.

Chiz.

Berserker · 15 Dec 2006 at 00:15

Well, for the most part XHTML is just stricter HTML. If you can do XHTML, you can do HTML. My personal choice is to make sites that are compatible with both (save for the DOCTYPE of course). It's not that hard.

Inquisitor · 15 Dec 2006 at 00:31

Well, as Berserker said, XHTML is just an XML-compliant subset of normal HTML. There's no real reason not to code it in XHTML to be honest, but if you do use XHTML, make sure it's strict rather than transitional.

As for employers, they'd undoubtedly be more impressed if you can produce XHTML compliant markup; if you can code in XHTML, you can code in HTML (afterall, XHTML is HTML).

Berserker · 15 Dec 2006 at 01:56

The last time I was coding HTML (a while now), I was a lazy goit and used Transitional.

Actually, that's a lie, most of the site validates Strict, but just occasionally I have a relapse, so I left the site at Transitional.

robmiller · 15 Dec 2006 at 02:11

Use HTML unless you can guarantee your users can support XHTML properly—which includes mime-types.

Since IE still can't support XHTML properly, use HTML.

(I'm guilty of not following this advice sometimes but I really should.)

Augmented · 15 Dec 2006 at 10:48

Depends what you mean by employers - that is, whether they're 'techies' or not.

If I (as a techie) was employing a web developer, I'd be more impressed by the quality of markup, e.g. a super-compact, valid 4.01 Strict would impress me more than an overweight, valid XHTML page in the right context. That would certainly show a greater understanding of how markup works than the right-or-wrong syntax of XHTML.

Non-techie employers won't care in the slightest, only whether it a) looks pretty or b) makes a lot of money.

Having said that, I was employed [partly] on the basis of being able to write XHTML...